we can manage it." The gate was
open, and I let in the clutch with a bang. With a startled grunt, Mr.
Dunkelsbaum was projected violently on to the seat he had left. As I
slowed up for Berry to rejoin us, "But I may have to go rather fast," I
added.

"Like der devil," was the reply.

The going was good, and the road was unfrequented, so I let the car out.
We tore down an avenue of firs, great rugged banks of rhododendrons
sprawling on either side, scudded into a beechwood--pillars all
silver-grey, set in a ruffled mass of whispering green, swam through a
sea of bracken, rippling and feathery. And all the time I was racking my
brain....

To the best of my recollection, we had another three miles to cover
before we should emerge from Ramilly on to the King's highway. But at
the very point at which we should leave the enclosure there were
crossroads and, I was sure, a finger-post announcing the way to Brooch
in a plain manner which there was no mistaking.

In the face of this direction, which our passenger would be certain to
see, it would be impossible to take another road, and, though we should
undoubtedly reach _The Fountain_ after the appointed hour, it was quite
possible that the proceedings might not be punctually conducted, and
that the essential business of the sale would not have been completed
before our arrival.

Of course, there was nothing to prevent us from throwing off the mask,
stopping the car, and politely intimating our inability to carry Mr.
Dunkelsbaum any further. But his reception of such an open declaration
of war was certain to be unsuitable for Adele's eyes and ears, and the
subsequent action which a man of his calibre would undoubtedly take
might prove troublesome, if profitless.

Again, our eventual arrival at Brooch, however belated, would be better
avoided. Berry and I were well known in the town, as was also our close
friendship with Sir Anthony. Our identification, therefore, would be
only a matter of time, and since, in the absence of a burst or a
puncture, our progress to Brooch could only be delayed by pretended
engine trouble, the suspicions which this would be sure to arouse in our
passenger's mind would very soon be confirmed.

Sooner or later the fellow would gather that he had been befooled, but,
provided that we preserved our incognitos, that did not matter. If we
could possibly leave him uncertain whether we were as cunning as
serpents or as simple as doves, so much the be